Atlasbound
by Dr.Sun
Summary: Blake finds herself lost. In Atlas, she is helpless in the fight to free the people. -Sequel to previous story.
1. Chapter 1

**Well, hey there. This is the first chapter of my new story. Now, this is a sort of sequel to my other RWBY story. I recommend that you check it out first. It's only 12 chapters and took me roughly a week and a half to write all of it. Although, I will upload the chapters at a slower pace. Anyway, this is a really shitty chapter, but I have a couple of others ready to upload as well and I think that they're better than this one. So if you hate this one, I get it but I would suggest sticking around just to see if it gets better.**

 **Anyway, that's it so enjoy the first chapter of the sequel.**

* * *

Team CFVY had seen a lot of activity recently. Their overall effectiveness as a whole team had increased greatly. Not much else had happened. They heard that Ruby's brother had disappeared but that was a few years ago. They didn't know much about the whole situation but they couldn't help but feel bad for them.

However, there was one strange occurence that turned into several.

* * *

It was a mission like any other. They had been sent out to a village that had been bothered by grimm recently and were expected to deal with them. The locals didn't manage to tell them, however, that the grimm were deathstalkers.

They had strolled out into a clearing in the nearby forest, expecting a simple fight. It turns out that the clearing was right next to the deathstalker nest. They had been ambushed, right when their guard was down.

Velvet was the first to scream. Coco would like to say that she was the only one to scream, but that would be lying. Velvet turned and ran to Yatsuhashi. He put a hand on her shoulder and pushed her behind him.

A deathstalker was right in front of them, ready to attack. Another one was circling them and Yatsuhashi made sure to keep an eye on it, protecting Velvet.

Coco and Fox were at the front of the group. Coco held her position and Fox charged toward the deathstalker. He was about to strike at the beast, when it lifted its stinger and slammed it into the ground in front of Fox.

Fox took this opportunity and slashed at the stinger several times. The grimm lifted its stinger again and backed away.

The deathstalker that circled them charged towards Yatsuhashi. He turned as Velvet screamed, running forward and putting up his blade in a defensive stance. The grimm had swiped at him with its claws and then grabbed onto his sword and pushing down on him. The large man grit his teeth.

The deathstalker was readying its stinger and it soon struck down towards Velvet. Fox and Coco turned to look at them. Fox ran forward in an attempt to push her out of the way.

As the stinger neared the shy girl, there was a rustling sound, it sounded like a large beast, most likely a deathstalker. Coco converted her makeup bag into its minigun form and pointed towards the sound.

In the blink of an eye, a red and white streak had tore across the field, right next to Velvet. The streak stopped and it was a person. They had just saved Velvet.

They wore a hood, pure white, coming to a black tip. They had a black zip up hoodie with red on the zipper. They also had a fairly normal pair of jeans, excluding the sheath on the back of their waist, housing a quite impressive weapon.

They had a pair of strange gauntlets. They stepped towards the grimm and bent their arms up towards their shoulders. They then threw their arms downwards. Inside the top of the gauntlets was a blade. It had a joint in the middle. When unsheathed, the blade will swing around on a pivot. Then the joint will unfold, fully exposing the blade.

The mysterious savior dashed towards the grimm and, before you know it, the blades are stuck inside the creatures head. They use their pure strength and brute force to slowly tear the beasts head in two.

The team froze. One person had been in the fight for no more then 7 seconds and they had already killed a deathstalker. The person just stood there, as the other deathstalker had moved behind them. They turned and rolled out of the way of the creatures stinger.

They looked back at Coco.

"You gonna use that thing?" they yelled.

Coco was afraid of the spread hitting their ally. It could cause serious damage.

Their ally yelled out again.

"Just shoot!" they commanded.

The mysterious person had managed to impale the tail of the beast as it tried to sting them again, holding it in place.

A rain of bullets had flown across the battlefield, a few brushing their new ally. They grunted as they tried to ignore the pain. They finally released the beast and dropped to the ground. Coco, satisfied with the state of the grimm, ran over towards the hooded figure.

She reached down and removed his hood. He had scars on his face, both new and old. He was bleeding down from the side of his forehead. His jacket sleeves had been ripped by the bullets, leaving marks or scars on his arm.

The group gathered around the man. Coco motioned for the others to move back. They complied as she unzipped his hoodie, finding a bullet wound. It had penetrated through his back, probably only just missing his spine.

Coco grabbed one of Fox' blades. She dug the bullet out of the wound. She threw the bullet away and stood up.

"We should get him to a hospital." she stated.

Then, the man on the ground groaned and stirred. Coco crouched down next to him again. She could hear him whispering something.

"My hero." he said quietly, with a smirk.

He groaned as he pulled himself to his feet. He brushed himself off, zipped up his jacket and started walking in the opposite direction of the village.

"Where are you going? Coco asked.

The man put his hands behind his head and stretched.

"Not sure. But probably somewhere better than here." he stated.

Velvet stepped up.

"M-maybe... do you want to... come with us?" the shy girl asked gingerly.

"I'm good. I don't roll with teams." he answered.

So they travelled back to the village, never expecting to see the man again.

* * *

A similar thing happened a few weeks later. They were on an extermination mission, there was a White Fang ambush and all that sort of stuff.

Then, out of the blue, the same man shows up to save the day. He was an amazing fighter. He showed a lot of promise with his weapons.

It was too convenient to be a coincidence.

He always showed up at the right time, right place all the time. Whenever Team CFVY was in danger he'd come save them.

After the battle had finished, Coco approached him.

"So what's up? What's all this?" she demanded to know, sounding a little harsh.

"What, I'm not allowed to help out?" he answered innocently.

"Well- no, it's just... why are you doing this?" she replied, blushing. She was sort of embarrassed for making him upset just because he wanted to help.

"Well, I haven't had a good fight in weeks. And you guys seem alright. Sure would be a shame if I let you die. I like you guys." he replied honestly.

Yatsu and Fox thought he was just trying to impress the girls. They just stood their ground, frowning.

Coco sighed. She felt like she would regret what she did next.

"Why don't you come back to Beacon with us?" she asked.

"Don't take it personally but I'm kind of on Atlas' most wanted list so Beacon sorta doesn't like me either. Maybe next time." he told her. He mock saluted goodbye then dashed away.

Coco sighed as Velvet stood beside her.

"Who is that guy?" Velvet questioned.

"No idea." Coco answered.

* * *

The team laughed and chuckled as they entered their dorm room back at Beacon. They were all surprised to see the man sitting on their windowsill, facing out.

Yatsu leaned over to Fox and Velvet and whispered "We should push him."

Coco slowly walked over to the window and put a hand on his shoulder. He turned and smiled.

"Thank God this is the right room, otherwise that might have been creepy." he said to himself.

"It still is creepy." Fox whispered to Yatsu. The two giggled like little school girls at the joke.

"So what are you doing here?" Coco questioned.

"Well, I was supposed to come see Ozpin but he rescheduled. So I thought 'Those guys seem pretty cool' and that's pretty much it." he told her.

"Anyway, I didn't catch your name exactly." Coco added.

"Rozen."

That was Ruby's brother.

"Ruby's brother?" Velvet asked shyly.

Rozen sighed and got up. He grabbed a bag off the floor and opened it. Inside were strange looking knee pads, gloves and shoulder braces. He strapped them on and looked out the window.

"Yeah." was all he said as he jumped out the window. However, he didn't fall.

The others were shocked.

"Atlesian gravity armour. Something I... apprehended. Allows the wearer to sustain more damage and grants them the abilty of levitation." he told them. "To make sure they don't die when they jump out of those drop ships.

Coco closed the window jokingly and Rozen slowly floated over and knocked. Yatsu walked over and closed the latch and walked away.

Rozen frowned and floated upwards, towards the roof.

Coco looked at the giant and pouted.

"Well that was rude." she said, punching him in the arm jokingly. She opened the door and stepped outside. It was just beginning to get dark. She made her way down the corridor, heading to the stairwell.

She went up to the top floor and got to the roof. Rozen was sitting on the edge.

"What're you doing up here?" she asked him.

He visibly sighed.

"I don't know. Thinking. I like you, you know? I've saved you many times. Why would I do that if I didn't like you guys? But... I don't want to get attatched." he admitted.

"What do you mean attatched?" the girl asked. She sat down next to him.

"I have spent all my life working alone. For multiple reasons. One of the most important reasons is whenever I develop a relationship with someone, it will always turn to shit, sooner or later. Most of the time, sooner." he said quietly.

Coco frowned. She barely knew this guy but felt the need to just give him a huge hug. So she did. She wrapped her arms around him. He looked at her. She smiled at him. He wrapped an arm around her.

"Well, getting attatched might not be that bad."


	2. Chapter 2

**So that was the first chapter. Now on to the second. But just so you know, this will be a more romantic sort of thing. Also, the dashing thing is just a sort of variation of Ruby's semblance, Speed. I'll explain all that at a later time, unless there is specific demand. Anyway, if you like this feel free to review or whatever. Enjoy.**

* * *

Coco and Rozen sat atop the dorm building, Coco pulling Rozen in a tight hug. A puzzled look came across the girls face.

"Are you... touching my ass?" she asked, confused.

He showed her his hands, proving that it wasn't him. Then he reached into his pocket.

"Oh, it's just..." he started. He looked at the scroll. A picture of Blake and him cuddling. Back when he was happy. When he had time for relationships. A solemn frown swept across his face. "...just my scroll."

He held it in front of him. He just stared at it for a few seconds.

"You gonna answer it?" Coco asked.

"No."

"Oh. I'm sorry. Is that...-"

"Not anymore." he said softly. He tossed the scroll of the building.

"Sweetie..." Coco tried to comfort him.

"It's all good." he told her as he got up. He walked towards the stairwell. He opened the door, only to find Velvet standing there, blushing.

"I am so sorry. I was just-" the faunus started.

"I don't care, Velvet. It doesn't matter." he said coldly.

He stepped past her and dashed down the stairs. The faunus looked at her feet as Coco approached her. She winced.

"Sorry, Velv." was all her leader said.

Velvet nodded and followed her down the stairs.

* * *

"Ozpin..." Glynda tried.

"No, Glynda. Let him finish." Ozpin dismissed her.

"Do I not get a say in this?" Rozen asked.

"No. Now, continue." the older man demanded.

"Alright fine. So, we were out in the middle of nowhere. We had no food. We had no knowledge of where the hell we were. We had no way of possibly surviving. Well, at least until-" Rozen was interrupted by Winter's sudden prescence.

"Come on, Rozen! What are you doing telling stories? I have to make sure they don't kill you tomorrow!" Winter yelled frustratedly.

"Well, they haven't actually caught me. Haven't for years." he boasted.

Winter sighed. She put a hand on Rozen's cheek.

"Rozen, I am doing all of this for you. You can at least try to make it easy for me. Please." the white haired woman almost begged.

Rozen smiled. He grabbed Winter's hand.

"Thank you, Winter. It means a lot to me."

"You don't have to say that. That's not what I meant." she said, turning away and blushing.

"Winter, I mean it. I would actually be dead right now if it weren't for you." he told her. She was flattered.

"I honestly owe you my life." he admitted.

"No thanks. I've seen it and I'm not impressed." she joked. Rozen laughed. And Winter smiled. It had been the first smile for a long time. It felt good. To just be friends with Rozen again, just for a moment.

"We need to do this more often." Rozen suggested.

"Sorry, but you get caught and sentenced to death a lot already." Winter joked again. Rozen just smiled. His thoughts were obviously elsewhere.

She stepped away. She leaned against Ozpin's desk.

"What are we going to do about him?" Winter whispered to Glynda and Ozpin.

" _We_ are going to do nothing. Ozpin and I will deal with him." Glynda answered. Winter stood up straight. General Ironwood stepped into the room.

"Well, I'm out of here." Rozen said, waving goodbye to Ozpin and Glynda and winking at Winter. He stood up and dashed out the door, past Ironwood.

Ironwood sighed.

"Someday he'll learn to be able to look at me, right?" the general asked sarcastically.

* * *

Team CFVY had been relaxing in their room until Fox and Yatsu decided to go train. Velvet insisted to Coco that they watch a movie. Coco, feeling merciful, agreed.

They were about halfway through the movie when their was a knock on the door. Coco got up and opened it. No one there. Someone was probably just playing Knock n Run. As she turned around, she saw Rozen, of course, knocking on the outside of the window. She opened it.

"What are you doing out there? We're watching a movie." Coco told him.

"And cuddling. Do you cuddle with everyone? You don't seem like the cuddly type." he informed her.

"Answer the question." Coco demanded.

"Ok, ok fine. I was just in Ozpin's meeting and I'm stressed out so I was wondering if I could chill here for a little while." he requested.

Coco looked to Velvet. The faunus was nodding enthusiastically. Coco moved out of the way, inviting him in.

Rozen put a hand on the windowsill and pulled himself in. He put his feet on the floor and sighed as Coco handed him a cup of coffee.

"You look like you need it." she explained.

"Thanks. Although I was expecting _Cocoa._ "

Coco put her head in her hands and groaned.

"Just stop." she told him.

He laughed at his own joke. He only now took notice of the room.

He had entered through a bay window, the bay having a semicircle seat and table. Opposite from the window was the front door. To the left of it was the bathroom. Across from the bathroom were two doors. One led to Coco and Velvet's room, the other leading to Yatsu and Fox' room. To the right of the bedrooms was a small room that jutted out to the right of the window. In there was a TV and a couch.

"This sure is an improvement on the other rooms." he pointed out.

"Yeah. Only first years get the crappy one room dorms." Coco explained.

Rozen strolled over to Velvet and sat down, looking her in the eyes. She blushed a little and looked to the ground. She looked up again and spoke.

"H-hi. What's up?" the faunus girl asked gingerly.

"That. What is that? I can't tell but it seems so obvious. I need to know. Where are you from? Where do you get that accent? I'm pretty sure it's from outside of Vale." Rozen rambled.

Coco put a hand on his shoulder.

"Sorry. I get carried away when there's something I don't know. It's one of my biggest fears." he admitted.

"Well, one of my biggest fears is letting strangers into my home." she joked.

"Well you did just that, only a few minutes ago." Rozen said.

Velvet smiled. Rozen plopped himself down on the couch. Coco sat next to him and continued to watch the movie.

By the time it had finished, Rozen had downed 7 cups of coffee. He was confused since he started watching halfway through so he didn't really care about the movie. Velvet had, most likely, enjoyed the experience.

Not so much the movie itself, so much as it was her, quite possibly, giant crush on Rozen. He had sat there and let her just nuzzle into him and snuggle up to him. She always felt like she needed that intimacy or contact with someone. It made her feel safe. And she couldn't get that connection from Coco, but she didn't mind being with Rozen.

And Rozen had noticed this. But he wasn't really thinking about it, due to hating himself for getting involved with these people. And, even worse, he believed that he had a crush on Coco. He told himself that he wouldn't get involved and even if he did, he wouldn't develop feelings for anyone.

"I'm gonna go." he said.

Velvet frowned. Rozen looked at her and shrugged.

"Sorry, Velvet. I've got important stuff to do." he apologised.

"Like what?" Yatsu asked as he closed the front door behind him, startling everyone with his sudden prescence.

Rozen walked to the door and gave him a death stare.

"None of your business." Rozen assured him.

* * *

Rozen walked through the hallways confidently and quickly. Winter followed close behind. She held on to his arm tightly.

"Rozen, you don't have to do this. It's insane!" she argued.

Rozen stopped cold. He turned quickly, pushing her away. His eyes were filled with anger and hate. Winter had a slight hint of fear in her eyes.

He froze. He stopped himself from lashing out.

"Shit... Winter I'm sorry. I wasn't going to-" he stopped when she took a step back. He sighed. Winter tensed up as he stepped closer.

"Don't." she told him sternly.

He turned around slowly and kept walking. Winter stood there in the empty hallway. She called Ironwood on her scroll.

"Yes? What is it, Winter?" he demanded.

Winter wiped a tear away.

"He's on his way. Just, whatever you do, no matter what he does, just don't hurt him. Please." she begged.

Ironwood was silent for a moment.

"No promises." he said quietly.


	3. Chapter 3

**Welcome back to another chapter. Also, look out for the coarse language. I have really nothing else to say so if you enjoy, feel free to leave a review. Anyway, here it is.**

* * *

The door to Ozpin's office flew open and Rozen stormed through. He looked around the room to see Ozpin sitting calmly at his desk and Glynda standing next to him.

"Where is he?" Rozen asked.

Glynda looked him dead in the eyes and slowly walked towards him.

"I'm afraid he's leaving. He didn't want to start anything and he didn't want to face you when you were so riled up." she stated.

Rozen laughed.

"That little _bitch_. I'm sick of it. He accuses me of running away when the man has an army, but he's afraid to fight _me?_ " he said angrily.

"Rozen, he is an influential political figure. If people watched him fight a seemingly unarmed person and win, no one would be in a good place. If people watch you fight him and win then all that'll do is cause chaos." Glynda stated with a motherly tone in her voice.

Ozpin stood up. He walked over to the young man and put a hand on his back. He then walked Rozen to the door and pushed him outside, slamming the door in his face.

Glynda just smiled. There was a knock on the door.

"Can I come in?" they heard him ask. The room was silent. "Alright, fine. I'll go do something else."

* * *

Blake was getting worried. She thought that she had seen him around but she couldn't be sure. She called him just to see if he'd answer but he clearly didn't. If he was back then she'd force herself to see him once.

She sat on her bed, reading a book when Ruby burst through the door.

"Have you seen Weiss?" the smaller girl asked her, panting.

"No. Why? And why are you so exhausted?" Blake asked, sounding concerned.

"Well, we were joking around and she went in to kiss me and I thought she was joking. So I pushed her away as a joke, but she got really embarrassed in front of everyone and ran off." Ruby ranted. She put her head in her hands. "What if she hates me?" she asked, tearing up.

Blake grabbed the smaller girls head and hugged her. She took a step back and looked into Ruby's silver eyes.

"Ruby. Weiss loves you. The best thing you could do is apologise and explain. She'll understand. She's probably just not used to how you act in a relationship." Blake reasoned.

Ruby sighed. She started breathing heavily and began to pace around the room.

"Yeah, she'll understand. She's just not used to it. It'll be fine. She'll understand..." she murmured.

Blake grabbed Ruby's shoulder.

"It would help if you actually go find her." Blake said.

"But I've looked everywhere!" Ruby told her.

Blake sighed and pulled out her scroll.

"I'll call her."

"Thanks Blake."

* * *

Rozen sat on the roof of the dorm building and sighed. He had been thinking.

"Should we start a team?" he mumbled to himself.

"Depends who you want on it."

The voice came from behind him. He turned to see who was speaking. He saw a girl that was dressed in all white.

He smiled at the girl. He felt happy she was here. It was strange; they had never really spoken to each other.

"You got girl problems?" he asked.

She sighed and folded her arms, slowly becoming more introverted. Rozen smiled a goofy smile as he stared at her, trying to get her to break.

Finally, she laughed. She walked over to him and sat on the edge. She smiled at him and he smiled back.

"I haven't had a serious relationship before is all. But Ruby just... seems different now. I understand that, now, things are different. But it just gets on my nerves. I love her and I want to show her that. I want to show everyone that! But when she doesn't show it back... I know it's a joke but what if one day it isn't? What if she just doesn't love me amymore? What if she wakes up and just feels regret?" the girl asked. She sounded distressed.

Rozen grabbed her by the shoulders.

"Weiss, Weiss, Weiss, Weiss. Listen, people don't just stop loving people out of the blue." he told her.

Weiss paused. She debated in her head wether to say something. Rozen already knew what she was going to say.

"But what abou-"

"Weiss, just because I disappear, it doesn't mean that I stop loving them. After I left, I didn't think I'd be able to live with myself. I had something with Blake but that changed when I left. But I didn't stop loving her. I missed Blake, Ruby and Yang every day. And you." he said quietly. He seemed sad. Weiss put a hand on his shoulder.

"Are you ok?" she asked, sounding concerned.

Rozen got up from the edge and walked to the wall next to the door that led to the stairwell.

He took a deep breath. He raised a fist. He then let it slowly touch the wall. Weiss ran over to him. She saw a tear fall. She slowly took him into a warm hug. He leant into her embrace.

He breathed in sharply. He stepped away from her, breaking away from her grip. He unsheathed one of his gauntlets blades. He thrust it at the wall as he yelled.

"I loved her! I loved all of them. I loved them." he sheathed the blade and slammed his fist against the shattered concrete. The pain didn't phase him. Weiss looked scared, but she quickly recomposed herself and confidently approached him and draped a hand over the back of his head and stroked his back with her other hand.

She hushed him and tried to calm him down. He was stressed, sleep deprived and heartbroken. After all that emotion came back to him, it was too much.

"I'm sorry I freaked out. I just- I don't normally... I can't explain myself. I'm really sorry. I just remembered how much I loved her and how much it hurt. And..." he trailed off.

"It's okay. I've felt the same way before." she comforted him.

There was a vibrating in Weiss' pocket and she pulled out her scroll, moving away from Rozen.

"Huh. That's weird. I don't have this person as a contact but it has a name and a picture?" she said, confused.

Rozen grabbed the scroll. He looked at it and smiled.

"Son of a bitch..." he mumbled. "I need to borrow this."

He answered it.

"You know, there's really no point in calling if you _can't talk!_ What? I'm sorry? Could you speak up? Oh wait."

* * *

Rozen stopped when he saw the entrance.

"What a grand entrance to the super secret underground lair." he said sarcastically.

The manhole cover slid to the side and the dual colored girl poked her head out. She smiled.

"How long have you been waiting there?" he asked, slightly disturbed.

She shrugged and climbed down the ladder. Rozen followed.

When he reached the bottom he was pleasantly surprised.

"So this is what Roman was working on?"

The girl nodded.

"Y'know Neo, I think you might be going soft. Your boss gets caught so you take his train and you ask some random guy what to do with it." he said jokingly.

Neo punched him in the arm and silently giggled.

Rozen looked around the large cavern. Roman did a good job of making it into an underground hideout. It was quite impressive.

"So what do you want me to do exactly?" Rozen asked.

Neo shrugged and turned on her heel and slowly walked around. She didn't give off a lot of hints but Rozen could tell that she was a bit down.

"Neo. Are you okay? You don't seem alright."

Rozen was concerned for the short girl. After he disappeared, he kept on going with his 'Take Down Atlas' thing and Roman had offered him a job. He was to help Neo cause trouble for Atlas while he stole as much dust as he could. After learning to trust each other within the time frame of ten minutes, Neo and Rozen became quite close, on a strictly proffessional level.

Neo swiveled and took a step towards Rozen. She was only a few inches away from him. She got up on her tippy toes and looked him in the eye. She smiled sweetly. Then, the short girl stepped down and leant into Rozen's chest.

"No." she whispered.

Rozen's eyes widened and a smile spread across his face. He looked her in the eye and she blushed. She pulled away and punched his arm.

"It's alright, I get it. You feel lonely so you reach out to the only people you can." he said quietly.

He put his hands in his pockets and kicked at the dirt. Neo looked sad. Rozen wrapped an arm around her.

"So what did you actually call me here for?" he asked.

Neo shrugged. Rozen smiled. Neo looked up at him with confusion on her face.

"You called me because you wanted to see me, didn't you?" he said, laughing.

Neo blushed. She broke his grip on her and walked away. She felt a stong grip on her shoulder.

"C'mon, Neo. I was joking." he apologised.

She didn't give a response. He tugged on her shoulder, turning her around to face him. He leant in and kissed her forehead.

"You're sweet." he said. He hugged her. She wrapped her arms around him tightly. She leant her head into his chest. He smiled and let his head rest on top of hers.

"You're the sweetest little criminal I've ever met. You're not half bad." he said.

Neo pulled away and looked up at him. She smiled and leant up to his face. She giggled and kissed him. She pressed her soft lips against his rough ones. She moaned quietly into the kiss.

Rozen broke away first.

"N-Neo. We... we can't do this." he said.

Neo blushed and looked at the ground. She felt stupid. She wanted to explain to him but she couldn't. She wished she never did it.

"I'm happy to, but I have to do some things before I start, y'know, getting out there. I just need to take care of a few things before I start any relationships." he explained.

Neo turned around put her head in her hands. She cried quietly. Rozen felt horrible. He just broke the small girls heart.

"I'm sorry, Neo. I'm just not ready."

Neo recomposed herself and stood up straight. She gave him a sad smile. She waved goodbye and used her illusions to disappear.

* * *

Coco and Velvet were out clothes shopping in Vale when they were alerted to an assault a few blocks away. Being second years, they were allowed to intervene in local crimes, assisting the police, if needed.

They raced to the scene and upon arriving, though they were shocked at the time, the couldn't say that they were completely surprised.

In the outside area of the shopping mall, there was what seemed to be a standoff.

Police were surrounding a certain area. That area was inhabited by one person.

Rozen.

He had his hands up in surrender. He flicked his blades from his gauntlets and the police opened fire. He blocked every single bullet.

"Now, that was a bit of an overreaction. Seriously, these things can just pop out at any moment." he joked. He was testing them, looking for their limit.

He dashed back towards a building behind him. Suddenly, the P.A system activated, the speakers blaring a song. It was 'Ain't No Rest For The Wicked'.

Rozen casually strolled out of the building.

"Sorry, just setting the mood. Now, who's first?"

 _I was walking down the street, when out the corner of my eye, I saw a pretty little thing approaching me._

The police opened fire, yet again and Rozen lifted his blades in defense. The gunfire ceased. Rozen smiled deviously. He threw his hands downward.

As he did this, the blades released the tension in them and extended. The blades then fell apart, held together by wires.

He flung the whip at an officer and wrapped it around his gun, pulling it from his grasp. He dashed at the unarmed officer and spin kicked him in the face. He fell to the ground and Rozen picked him up in a headlock, using him as a human shield.

"Watch it. I don't want your life. But try to make a move and I won't think twice." he threatened.

Coco ran towards the shootout. She stopped between Rozen and the authorities.

"Rozen, what are you doing?!" the girl yelled.

He threw the police officer to the ground. He shrugged.

"No rest for the wicked. Money doesn't grow on trees, you know. Nothing in this world is free."

 _No, I can't slow down, I can't hold back, though you know I wish I could. Ain't no rest for the wicked, till we close our eyes for good._

Rozen cracked his bladed whips and walked towards his enemies.

Coco put a hand on his chest, in an attempt to stop him. He looked down at her. He pushed her to the side and kept walking.

He threw his whip and wrapped it around an officers throat and pulled. The man had cuts all over his neck. He fell to his knees. Rozen walked over to him and grabbed him by the throat. He slammed him into the hood of the car he was using as cover.

Rozen turned around blocked an incoming bullet with his gauntlet.

 _Now a couple hours past, and I was sitting in my house. The day was winding down and coming to an end. And so I turned on the TV and flipped it over to the news, and what I saw I almost couldn't comprehend._

Rozen walked menacingly towards the other police officers. There was a roar of an engine. Rozen turned around and looked up.

He kicked the side of the car next to him.

"Fuck!" he yelled.

There was a bullhead approaching the ground. It hovered a few feet above the ground and the doors opened.

Winter jumped out and quickly walked towards Rozen.

"What are you doing?! You promised you would stop!" she shouted.

"Listen, Winter. I'm sorry. I jus-" he was cut off by Winter slapping him. He stood there in shock. There was a red print of her hand on his face.

"I don't want to hear it!" she yelled.

Coco and Velvet ran over th his side.

"Who's this?" Coco asked.

Rozen sighed.

"This is Winter. She's a friend. Probably not now, though." he told them.

Winter clicked her tongue and walked Rozen over to the bullhead. She made him sit on the edge of it.

She sighed.

"Let's have a look at you and get you cleaned up." she said reluctantly.

Rozen had a tendency to not notice injuriea and wounds he sustains during fights until someone points them out. So, most of the time, someone will have to fix his wound before he notices it, otherwise he'll start to feel the pain.

Winter quickly tried to bandage up a bullet wound in his stomach. Rozen looked down at the wound.

"Well, FUCK!" he yelled in pain.

Winter grabbed his head and kisses him on the forehead.

"Shh. Just calm down. I'll fix it up." she promised.

Rosen calmed down. He breathed deep breaths, trying to help Winter.

"Now, I'm still pissed at you, you know that?" Winter asked.

Rosen laughed. He hugged the white haired woman.

"Thanks Winter. I'm sorry."

Winter put a hand on his cheek and rubbed along his scars with her thumb.

"I know. You can't help it. It's just how you lived your whole life. I get it." she assured him.

Rozen smiled.

"Still friends?" he asked, smiling.

Winter hugged him one more time.

"You're my best friend. You have been for years. I wouldn't throw that away. We're good." she told him.

* * *

 **Alright. So there's the third chapter. Now, this is more of just a story that is literally just based off of my thoughts, my mood, the music I listen to. All that stuff. But I don't expect this to do well, and I honestly don't care. I just needed to write all these thoughts down and I thought 'Why not share them with others?'.**

 **But thats pretty much it. Thanks for reading.**


	4. Chapter 4

Rozen felt comfortable. It was a rare occurence. Winter was sitting by his side. He had an arm wrapped around her. She leaned into his touch, slightly.

Winter sighed.

"What are you doing with your life?" she asked.

"No idea." he answered.

Winter leaned her head against his chest. She felt at peace.

The bullhead they were flying in landed, interrupting their tender moment. The door slid open and Rozen noticed they were back at Beacon.

Rozen jumped out of the aircraft and stretched his arms.

"So you aren't taking me to prison?" he joked.

Winter smirked.

"Well, we can if you want." she told him.

"I think I'm good."

Rozen glared at the AK's surrounding the aircraft.

Winter grabbed his shoulder.

"It's okay. They're just robots." Winter assured him.

"Yeah. Anyway, why are we here?" he asked.

"Well, I'm not staying. I have to get back to Atlas immediately." she told Rozen.

Rozen sighed. He opened his arms.

"I'll see you soon, though?" he asked sadly.

Winter held him in a tight hug.

"Soon." was all she said.

Rozen pulled away. He looked annoyed.

"How long?" he asked.

Winter sighed. He waa going to play this game. The game where he had to know exactly when she'd be back. But she didn't know how much he hated it when she wasn't around. She didn't know how much it hurt him.

"A few days at least." she confessed. Rozen turned around and was ready to dash away when Winter grabbed his arm.

He turned his head slightly.

"What?" he asked, annoyed.

"What's the matter? Why are you annoyed?" Winter asked with concern.

Rozen stepped away.

"Nothing. It's just that a few days seems like a few years." he said solemnly.

Winter moved forward and kissed him on the cheek.

"I love you, you know." she said smiling.

Rozen just stood still.

"Yeah..." he said absently.

Winters smile fell from her face. She walked back towards the bullhead. She held onto Rozen's hand as she moved away. She still pulled on his hand, stretching his arm until she let go.

Rozen just dashed away, not wanting to think about it.

* * *

Jaune sat on the roof, wondering about how he could have gone about it. 'It' being asking out Pyrrha. He had wussed out again.

There was a brief flash of white and red. Suddenly, Rozen was sitting next to him on the roof.

"H-hey. You're... Ruby's brother. Right?" he asked nervously.

Rozen pulled his hood off his head.

"That's me. Why does it matter?" he said.

"Oh. Well. Um, last time I met you it was when you threw a sword at my face." he told him.

"Huh. Oh yeah, I remember you. Joan, right?" Rozen asked.

"It's Jaune." he said briefly.

Jaune then sighed.

"Let me guess. Girl problems?" Rozen asked.

"Yeah. How did you know?" Jaune wondered.

"It's never anything else. What's troubling you?" he said.

"I just- I always hesitate in asking out this girl. I'm really into her and I'm pretty sure she's into me. At least, that's what everyone says. I just want to ask her and I get right to the point of actually asking the question but I just back out." the blonde boy ranted.

Rozen just sat there.

"Can't really help you with that one. I mean, whatever is keeping you is only mental. It's not physical so you can do it. The only thing stopping you is yourself. You're probably just scared she'll say no. So don't be. If she's probably into you then just believe she is." Rozen told him.

"You're right. There's no challenge, just my own boundaries. Anyway, what's got you down?" he asked.

Rozen proceeded to tell him about the situation with Winter. He told him how they had been together for years, how she was leaving and how she didn't realise what it did to him.

"She said she loves you man. Sounds like you blew it." Jaune said.

"Gee, thanks Jaune. That helps." Rozen joked. He reached into his jacket and pulled out a small canteen. He took a swig before holding it out to Jaune. Jaune shook his head and Rozen kept drinking.

The stairwell door swung open and an extremely angry Weiss stormed out. Rozen got up and walked over to her.

"What's up, Weiss? You look like you need to calm down." he told her.

Weiss tensed up as Rozen put his jacket over her shoulders. She released the tension as he wrapped an arm around her.

The sun was setting and it was starting to get cold.

"I just... I don't know what happened." she stated, sounding shocked.

"Just tell me what happened. It's alright." he comforted.

Weiss took a few deep breaths. Her voice shook when she spoke.

"I... I went to tell her that I was sorry for overreacting. When I entered our room she was sitting on her bed so I sat down next to her. I apologised and she apologised and it was all going fine. But then... she sort of... changed. She wanted to...-"

"Weiss. I get it. I can't believe she would do that." Rozen told her.

"Well, I told her to stop and then she asked me why so I told her that I wasn't ready. She started to cry and say that I must have not taken our relationship seriously. After that she got angry and I stormed out." she explained.

"Weiss..."

Weiss started to cry. Tears were flowing down her face.

"I think... I think we broke up." she said, sobbing.

The door slammed shut.

Jaune stormed towards Ruby's room. He opened the door and looked at Ruby.

"What the hell, Ruby?" he yelled. He was angry. He didn't think that she would ever be like that but his worst fears were coming true.

Ruby looked down and sighed. She jumped off her bed and walked towards Jaune. She hugged him. Jaune pushed her off.

"How could you do that to her? She's in tears up on the roof! You can't do that to a person!" he scolded.

"I'm sorry! I just... thought that we would be able to move on. I thought she was ready but she wasn't. And I was just embarrassed. I didn't know what I was doing. Please, forgive me. I love her, Jaune." Ruby apologised.

Jaune put a hand on Ruby's shoulder.

"Ruby. You're heart is in the right place but you can't do that. I'm not sure about Weiss but I forgive you. Just promise me you won't do that to Weiss or anyone else ever again. She feels horrible because you messed up." he told her.

Ruby hugged Jaune again and this time he didn't push her off. He let her melt into his embrace, nuzzling his chest.

"I'm sorry." she said softly.

"Save it for Weiss." he said.

* * *

"I'm sorry, Weiss. Jaune's probably talking to her now. I can't believe her. She just... yelled at you because you didn't want to have sex? I mean, you can't just spring it on someone. And you still have to find an appropriate time and place." he reasoned.

Weiss leaned against his chest.

"She's just so unbearably immature and childish sometimes." she stated.

"I don't think what she just tried to do counts as 'immature' or 'childish'."

"I mean in the sense that she would put the blame on me. No normal person would do that. They'd own up to their actions." she told him.

She took a deep breath and nuzzled into Rozens chest and closed her eyes.

"So... what's Blake doing nowadays?" he asked casually.

Weiss sprung up.

"I knew you'd ask! It was only a matter of time." Weiss said.

"Weiss. I'm not in the mood. I'm trying to help you. I don't need this right now." he told the girl.

"You're right. I'm sorry." she apologised. "Well, don't get angry or freak out, but she's kind of got a boyfriend." she said cautiously.

To her surprise, Rozen didn't freak out.

"Kind of? So who is he?" he pried.

"He's a faunus from Vacuo-"

"Oh. **Vacuo."** he groaned. "That shithole? Honestly, I think she could do better." he said.

"How would you know?" Weiss questioned.

"I just do."

Weiss leaned against the man once again. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. After a while, she was fast asleep.

Rozen picked up the sleeping girl and took her down the stairs, into her room. He was met by an apologetic look from Ruby. He set Weiss down on her bed.

"I can't believe you." was all he said to her.

Jaune tapped him on the shoulder.

"It's alright. I talked to her." he told the older man.

He looked back at Ruby.

"That doesn't change anything. How could you do that? You have no idea what she's been through. You can't hurt someone like that. It's not right. Never do that again." he said coldly. He sounded brutal.

Rozen passed Yang as he left the room.

"So what did I miss?" she asked.

"Oh, nothing." Jaune joked.

The blonde girl sat next to her sister.

"Should I talk to him?" she asked.

Ruby just nodded as Yang got up and left the room in search of Rozen.

She ran down the corridor to catch up with her brother. She tapped his shoulder. He turned around, clearly angry.

"What happened? Ruby's crying." she told him.

"You don't know what happened, do you?" he asked.

She shook her head. Rozen sighed and put his hands on her shoulders.

"Weiss got upset with Ruby after she didn't kiss her. It embarrassed Weiss so she stormed off. She apologised and Ruby tried to... have sex with her. So Weiss told her no and then Ruby yelled at Weiss until she was in tears! She was bawling her eyes out on the roof, all because Ruby tried to have sex with her and then yelled at her when she declined!" he explained.

Yang was shocked. She stood there for a moment, letting it all sink in.

"You... really care about Weiss?" she asked.

"Yeah. I do." he told her, scratching the back of his head.

There was a brief silence.

"Have you talked to Ruby?" Yang finally said.

"Jaune did. Then I... got a bit angry at her." Rozen admitted.

"Well. I guess I get it. You're trying to protect your friend." she stated.

Rozen nodded and started to walk down the corridor. Yang stood in front of him and put a hand on his chest.

"Where do you think you're going?" she asked.

He was planning to go see Neo. He wanted to make sure that they could still be friends. If he were to be honest, he just wanted it to go back to normal.

"Um, I was just... gonna go... do a thing." he answered nervously.

Yang was starting to notice that he was acting suspicious. That was until an unsuspecting Velvet exited her dorm room, only to be met by a red and white blur and Rozen with his arm around her shoulders.

"I was gonna hang with my friend, Velvet. Have you met her? She's great! She's funny, kind and, best of all," he whispered to Yang. "she's pretty cute."

The small faunus blushed and looked at the ground.

"Let's go, Velvet!" he said as he started to walk down the corridor with her.

* * *

Rozen and Velvet had been out in Vale for a few hours. They had gone to get coffee then saw a movie before starting to head back to Beacon.

Velvet wore stone washed grey skinny jeans and a loose sweater; an outfit suggested by Coco. Rozen wore his usual black hoodie and dirty white jeans. He had a seperate hood hanging down his back.

As they approached the bullhead station, Rozen stepped close. Velvet dismissed it as nothing. After they had gotten to the station, she stood close to the wall of the building. Rozen leant up against it next to her.

After a few minutes, Velvet was tired of standing so she sat on a bench next to the ticket stand. Rozen sat next to her. Her hands were resting on the bench. She felt a cold hand wrap around hers. She looked up and saw Rozen sitting just like nothing was different. He looked to the side and saw her staring at him. He pulled his hand away and looked away, apologising.

"No. It's... it's okay." she told him as she reached for his hand. She rested her hand on top of his and rested her head on his shoulder and sighed, feeling him relax. They sat there for a few minutes, just enjoying the moment of peace.

"You know, I started this off as just trying to get away from Yang but... I really enjoyed this. It was fun." he admitted.

Velvet blushed. Her face was heating up.

"Well... maybe we could do it again some time?" the shy girl suggested.

Rozen smiled and put a finger under her chin, lifting her head.

"Yeah. I'd like that." he said, before closing the distance between them. He pressed his lips against hers and she blushed. She broke away, panting. She leaned in again and pressed her soft lips against his. She moaned into the kiss. Rozen put a hand on her cheek and pressed against her harder. She moaned again and wrapped her arms around his neck.

They were interrupted by Velvet's scroll ringing.

"S-sorry. I've got to take thi-"

"It's alright. I'll wait here." he told her.

She grabbed her scroll and walked away.

"So. Did you guys kiss yet?" Coco pried.

Velver hesitated to answer.

"...Yes. But don't tell Yatsu or Fox!" she warned. "That will only make them dislike him more."

"Fine, fine. Is he good at it? Did he give tongue?" she asked. She gasped. "Did he sneak a feel?"

Velvet blushed and Coco could tell. She groaned as her friend laughed.

"No! He didn't. But he is good. And I'm pretty sure that there was a hint of tongue." she said quietly.

"Okay, well, I'll leave you two crazy kids to it." Coco joked.

"Alright. I'll talk to you when I get back."

Velvet hung up and turned around. She headed back to where Rozen was sitting. He got up and walked towards her.

"Bullhead's here. We gonna head off?" he asked.

Velvet nodded and the boarded the aircraft. Rozen followed. The bullhead took off and headed towards Beacon. There weren't many people on board. It was mostly third years taking a break from all the action.

Rozen and Velvet sat next to each other. She held onto his hand tight and rested her head on his shoulder.

"Up or down?" Rozen suddenly asked.

"What?" the girl replied.

"Your fur. Does it run smoothly upwards or downwards?" he clarified.

"O-oh. Upwards... I think." she answered gingerly.

"Let's find out." Rozen said as he stroked one of her ears in an upwards motion. Velvet blushed and breathed heavily, leaning into his touch, wanting more.

"So you like that?" he joked.

"Yeah. Could you do it again?" she asked shyly.

Her answer was presented in the form of a stroke against her ear.

She moaned and her ears started twitching. When Rozen was finished, Velvet's face was red and she was out of breath. No one had touched her like that for a long time.

The bullhead stopped at Beacon and the passengers piled out. Rozen and Velvet exited, holding hands. Velvet was distressed when she saw Coco standing in the courtyard with her camera. As they walked towards the school, Coco took a picture of the two.

Velvet ran over to Coco and grabbed the camera.

"What are you doing with my camera?!" she yelled.

Coco just laughed. Velvet went through the gallery and slammed the delete button. Rozen casually walked over to the girls and observed Velvet's frenzy.

"Why are you deleting the photo?" Rozen asked, sounding confused. "Do you... not want people to know that we were together?" he asked sadly.

Velvet stopped.

"No! No, no, no, no! I just... Yatsu and Fox always go through my photos and if they knew we were on a date then they would get angry at both of us." she explained.

"So that's exactly what you were doing." he said solemnly.

He pulled his hood over his head and turned around.

"Rozen, wait! I was just trying to protect-"

He dashed away in a blur of red and white.

"you..."

Coco hugged Velvet from behind.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't know that he would react like that. I was just teasing. I'm so, so sorry." Coco apologised.

Velvet shook her off.

"No. This is all your fault! You knew how Yatsu and Fox would react, you knew how I'd react! What in your head would make you do that?!" she exploded. She had one chance with this amazing guy and Coco blew it for her.

"I said I was sorry. I really mean it. I'm sorry..." Coco repeated.

Velvet just gave her a death stare and stormed off to their dorm.

* * *

Rozen sat in team RWBY's room. He and Yang sat on Weiss' bed. She rubbed his back, trying to comfort him. Ruby sat on a chair that she moved in front of him, holding his hands. Weiss sat next to him, an arm wrapped around his shoulders. Blake sat on her own bed, still uncomfortable around him.

"I don't know what it is. No relationship has ever gone well. Every relationship I've ever been in has never had a happy ending. It just doesn't work out." Rozen said.

"I'm sure you'll find someone. It's only a matter of time." Weiss told him.

"Yeah. The perfect girl is out there somewhere just waiting for you. So go get her." Ruby encouraged.

"Or... you could take a break from the dating game and hang out with us for a while." Yang suggested.

"Maybe. What do you think, Blake?" he asked.

Blake's ears perked up as she snapped out of her day dream.

"Um... I'm not really sure... Maybe go over there, give her another chance and let her explain. Just ending it like that is never good for anyone." the faunus girl stated.

"That's... a really good idea. Thanks, Blake."

Rozen got up and opened the door, rushing out and slamming it behind him. He made his way down the hall to Velvet's room. He knocked on the door. It was opened by Yatsuhashi. Rozen sighed.

"Hey, is Velvet here?" he asked.

Yatsu looked him up and down.

"What, are you here to make her cry again?" he threatened.

Rozen looked confused.

"What do you mean?"

"You know. She tried to make sure that I wouldn't get angry because you two went on a date, so you left her in the courtyard, where she yelled at Coco and stormed in here, crying." the giant told him.

"Well, do you know where she is? I need to apologise."

"Damn right you do." Fox chimed in from behind.

The two looked menacing. Fox got right up in Rozen's face and shoved him towards Yatsu. The large man grabbed Rozen by the arms. Fox tried to punch Rozen in the stomach, but he dashed out of the way, letting Fox punch his teammate.

"What, you're gonna try and beat me up?" Rozen asked sarcastically.

Yatsu threw a punch at Rozen, which he caught. Rozen threw Yatsu at the wall. Fox tried to kick Rozen but he grabbed his foot. Fox jumped and twisted. Rozen threw Fox' leg down, letting him smack into the floor.

Yatsu grabbed Rozen from behind, and started trying to choke him. Fox punched him in the stomach repeatedly. Rozen was rapidly running out of breath. He went all in and threw his head back, hitting Yatsu. He elbowed the giant in the stomach, then punched him in the face, letting him fall to the ground.

Fox threw a punch and Rozen moved out of the way and grabbed his arm and threw him backwards. He knee'd the blind boy in the stomach then threw him to the ground.

Rozen wiped blood off his lip and turned to walk down the hall. He saw Velvet and Coco, both looking shocked.

"Velvet. I came to apologise." he told her.

She pushed past him and dropped to her knees in front of Yatsu. She turned to him.

"Just stay away! Look what you've done to them!" she yelled.

Coco looked upon Rozen with sympathy. She whispered to him "I'll talk to you later." before running back to Velvet, to help her friends.

* * *

Jaune winced as Rozen's fist came into contact with the wall.

"Rozen, stop." he said.

Rozen turned away from the wall and leaned his back against it. He slid down the wall and sat down. The stairwell door opened and, without looking, the two men greeted Weiss.

The rooftop had become a little club for girl problems. There were only three members but they had become quite close over the conversations exchanged up there. Rozen and Jaune had become good friends and the three were always giving advice for the others girl problems.

Weiss saw that Jaune was actually quite content but Rozen was in a particularly bad mood. He would normally be quite an outspoken person, always looking for conversation. But now he was quiet, save for occasional small talk.

Weiss sat down next to him.

"What's got you down this time?" she asked.

Rozen looked at her clothes.

"Where's the fancy outfit?" he replied.

Weiss was wearing simple black tights and a plain white shirt.

"No missions lately, so why stay in my battle outfit?" she explained.

Rozen sighed and leaned against her.

"It never works. One chance and I blew it." he said calmly. He stood up and punched the wall again.

"You really hate walls, don't you?" she asked sarcastically.

He punched the wall a few more times. His knuckles were bleeding now.

He sat back down and let his head fall into his hands. Weiss hugged him and pressed herself against his chest.

"You'll be fine. She's just not the one. You just have to move on. It may feel like she's special but if it doesn't work out, she isn't." Weiss advised.

"Y'know, Weiss, I'm having some trouble with the ladies, too!" Jaune called out.

Weiss scowled at him.

"Well, your problems aren't as important as my friends problems." she said menacingly.

She continued to snuggle up to Rozen. She had no fear of being this intimate with him. She was sure of her sexuality. She knew that she was into women so she believed that she could be this intimate with a guy and nothing would come out of it.

Rozen blew on his bleeding knuckles. He was trying to cool them down becausd the graze on them made them feel hot. Weiss just pushed his hands down and leant into his torso.

He rested his chin on the top of her head.

"It all repeats." he briefly stated.

"What do you mean?" Weiss asked.

"I mean: It all repeats. It's like a cycle. I'll have trouble, ask for advice from you guys and then it all goes downhill from there. Then, it repeats. It's just one long, painful cycle."

He took a deep breath. Weiss grasped his hand, looking into his eyes.

"That's why I ran away..." he said softly.

Weiss cupped a hand on his cheek.

"No, no, no. Don't say that." she told him.

"But it's true. And it was selfish. I was scared of being hurt again so I ran away from the pain."

Weiss looked at him, knowing it would be pointless to argue.

"Well, we love you." she said, a caring tone in her voice.

"Do you love me?" Jaune called out. Weiss just glared at him.

Rozen stood up. He headed for the door.

"Winter should be back soon. I just wanna go see her." Rozen told Weiss.

Weiss let go of his hand.

"Come talk to me if you need anything." she offered. Rozen didn't respond. He just opened the door and walked down the stairs.

* * *

Winter sat in her seat anxiously. She was twiddling her thumbs. She pulled out her scroll and went through her messages. She just needed something to do.

She got up from her seat and entered the cockpit.

"How much farther is Beacon?" she yelled over the engines.

The pilot looked at the dashboard.

"Only a few minutes now. Buckle up and get ready for landing." he replied.

Winter left the cockpit and sat back down in her seat. She couldn't stop thinking about him. She couldn't believe that she was feeling this way. She let herself succumb to her worst fear. Love.

She truly believed that she was in love with Rozen. She thought about the possibilities. Marriage? Kids? A small house in the woods, where they'd live out their lives in a calm, gentle bliss? Or they would fall in love and Rozen would spend his time fighting against her. If they had kids, Winter dreaded the day that she would have to tell their children that daddy won't be coming home.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the thud of the aircraft landing. The cargo door at the back slid open and the Atlesian Knights parted so she could exit. She saw Rozen standing amongst the crowd of people awaiting her, wanting to meet the hero who had done so much for Atlas and for Remnant, as a whole.

But Rozen didn't believe that. He knew that Winter had the best intentions but he knew that there was no such thing as heroes. There were people that help and people who don't. Rozen never knew which he was.

Winter pushed past the crowd and reached Rozen. He had his arms folded and his hood over his head. She pulled it off and linked her arm with his.

"Let's go." she said.

Rozen complied and followed Winters lead.

* * *

 **I'm so sorry for all this filler bullshit. I tried to do something meaningful but it just turned into a bunch of dramatic bullshit. But I hope that I did accomplish something this chapter and I believe that to be boundaries. I established a few boundaries here and there, showed off a few characters limits. But that's about it. So I'm gonna crack down and try to make the next chapter decent.**


	5. Chapter 5

Rozen looked rather unhappy as Winter led him through the halls.

"Why are we going towards the dorms?" he asked.

Winter clicked her tongue and stopped. She turned to Rozen and put her hands on his shoulders.

"What are we?" she replied.

Rozen just stood there, thinking. He was caught off guard by her question but he had an answer planned out. He was going to tell her as soon as he could.

"We are... nothing. We're best friends." he answered.

Winter frowned. She had to tell him that she was serious. That she was in love with him.

"Rozen. I love you. And I don't mean as a friend. I think I'm falling for you." she told him honestly.

"Winter, listen. I fell for you the day I met you. But I know that we can't have a relationship. Weiss and Ruby are happy and if we had a relationship it wouldn't be right. Either they have a relationship or we do and I'm not going to take away their possible eternal love, just for our inevitably failed love. I've bitten my tongue for 9 years; I think you can too. I'm sorry." he confessed.

Winter could feel tears welling up in her eyes. She confessed her love to him and he confessed back, but he told her that they couldn't be together.

"But Winter, we have an unbreakable bond. I don't want to throw that away just because I can't be in a relationship. Can we just agree that this never happened and move on? I know it's a lot to ask but I just need you to act like everything's perfectly normal." he requested.

Winter nodded and wiped a tear from her eye, trying to cover her eyes so he couldn't see her crying. She felt strong arms wrap around her and embrace her in a warm hug.

"I love you. You're my best friend." he told her.

She just slumped into the hug.

"Love you too..." she said quietly.

* * *

Ruby and Weiss sat on the bed in silence. They were trying to come to terms and apologise. Appropriately.

"I'm so sorry. I was embarrassed. I didn't know what to do. It was just adrenaline. I'm sorry..." Ruby apologised.

Weiss just slowly hugged the smaller girl, pulling her close. A tear fell from her face.

"Ruby..."

"Yeah?"

"He's leaving."

Ruby's jaw dropped. Was she serious? What reason would he have to run away again?

"Weiss, that's not funny." Ruby said sternly.

"I'm not joking. Winter told him she loved him and he had some sort of realisation and now he's going to Atlas." Weiss said, sobbing.

There was a thud as books hit the floor. The two lovers looked up to see Yang standing in the doorway, tears flowing like a waterfall. She had dropped her school books in shock. She turned and ran down the hall.

"Yang!" Ruby called out after her sister. She used her semblance to race out after Yang. She stopped in front of the blonde girl, wrapping her up in a consoling hug. The older girl's face was red and wet from her trying to rub her tears away.

"I'm sorry. We can try to talk to him. Do you want to talk to Blake?" the younger sister asked.

Yang just nodded, sniffing and trying to rub another tear away. Ruby led her sister back to their dorm, where she called Blake.

Blake and Yang were always close. They countered each other and that kept a bond between them. They always helped each other with one anothers problems.

Blake burst through the door. She looked around the room, spotting Yang sitting on Blake's own bed. She rushed over and sat down next to the crying blonde, putting an arm around her shoulders. The faunus brushed a lock of hair away from Yangs face, wiping away a tear.

"I'm sorry. Want to talk about it?" the black haired girl offered. Yang shook violently away from Blake, shaking her head. She felt like she just needed to move and expel energy, get rid of the anger and sadness consuming her.

Blake hesitated but soon shuffled over to Yang.

"If you don't want to talk about it, I'm here for you anyway." she assured her friend. Yang rested her head against Blakes shoulder, trembling. Blake just stroked Yangs hair.

"It's alright. It'll be fine." she cooed.

* * *

 **3 Hours Earlier**

"You're what?!" Weiss yelled.

"No, Weiss, you don't understand. This is something I have to do. If I stay here it would just be selfish! I have to do this. It's... for the greater good. Or something like that." Rozen told her.

Weiss looked at her sister.

"Did you know about this?" she asked, tears in her eyes.

Winter just nodded.

"Weiss, I told you because I thought you would understand. You've been surrounded by military for your whole life. You know what the Atlesian Military is like. They are a ruthless, horrible, punishing force who won't hesitate to destroy anything or anyone in their way." he told her.

"Stop. Just... stop. Don't try to explain yourself. If you want to leave, fine. But I don't think I can forgive you. We were friends, Rozen. But that obviously doesn't matter to you." she said sadly.

Rozen sighed as Weiss stepped away and left the office. Ozpin stood up from his chair.

"I'm sorry, Rozen. Your transport is ready when you are. Just let us know." Ozpin offered.

"Just give me a sec."

Ozpin turned to Winter.

"Are you sure about this, Miss Schnee? This man is about to leave to single handedly take on the man you have pledged your life and eternal loyalty to. Are you sure you still support him?" Ozpin asked.

Winter nodded and stepped close to Rozen and slowly pressed her lips against his. She pulled away after a few seconds, blushing and looking at the ground.

"Please. Just don't die. Promise me you'll come back." she said softly. Rozen put a hand on her cheek and wiped a tear from her face with his thumb as he brushed his lips against hers. He pulled away and turned to Ozpin.

"I'm ready."

* * *

 **Present...**

Rozen was about to board the transport ship when he heard a voice call out to him from behind.

"Rozen!"

He turned around, hood over his face. He saw Blake walking quickly towards him. He turned back around and stepped inside the aircraft. The pilot turned and looked at him.

"She a friend?" he asked.

"Just go." Rozen replied.

At that moment, Blake stepped onboard the aircraft.

"Miss, I'm gonna have to ask you to get out of the cabin." the pilot told her.

"I'm not leaving." Blake told him, giving him a death stare, just to force her point.

She sat down on one of the seats in the cabin.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" she yelled at him.

"I'm going to fight a war. What are you doing?" he answered.

Blake leaned back and smiled, folding her arms.

"I'm coming with you."

"No. No! You are not coming to Atlas. You'll get killed." he warned.

Blake rolled her eyes and scoffed, thinking he was overreacting. But he wasn't.

"Blake, this isn't a joke anymore. I'm not going somewhere to fight grimm or something stupid; I'm going to fight an army. An army of real people who pose an actual threat to my life. This is serious." he told her, his face stern.

Blake looked at his face. He really wasn't playing around.

"You... you're serious? You're really putting your life in danger..." she whispered to herself.

"And that's why you aren't coming with me. I'm sorry. Now, get out of here." he told her. As Blake stood up, the ship began to take off.

"I don't think I have a choice anymore." Blake said softly.

Rozen leaned back in his seat, thinking about something.

"Well, it sort of works, I guess. We can do something about the way they treat the faunus people. Without the White Fang." he reasoned.

Blake chuckled quietly, clearly amused.

"Last time we fought the White Fang together, I had to dig an axe out of my boyfriend's stomach." she joked.

"Well, it hurt like crazy." Rozen argued.

Blake sighed.

"What happened to that other boyfriend of yours?" Rozen asked.

"He wasn't exactly my boyfriend. He just had a huge crush on me. And he wasn't that bad, I guess." she explained. Rozen just nodded.

The two laughed and joked throughout the whole flight, until Blake fell asleep. Rozen gave her a peck on the cheek then put a blanket over her, keeping her warm. The sun had started to set, Atlas still hours away.

Rozen pulled his hood over his head, slumping down in his seat. He folded his arms and took a deep breath, slowly drifting off to sleep.

* * *

Ruby gasped.

"No, no, no, no!" she yelled. Weiss burst out of the bathroom, putting a hand on her lovers shoulder.

"What is it?" Weiss asked.

Ruby held a small note in her hands. She was shaking, shocked by what she saw. She handed the note to Weiss and sat down on her bed.

Weiss looked the note over. It read:

 _'RWY,_

 _I'm sorry. Rozen is leaving and I am, too. I'm unsure of what this is but I'm determined to find out. I promise I'll come back safe. Just,'_ There were a few tear drops on the page were she wrote this. ' _don't touch my books. I need to do something about this and I hope you understand, though I don't expect you to. Just know that this wasn't my first choice. I wish it could've turned out different. But that's just not the path I took._

 _Blake.'_

Weiss dropped the note. She hugged Ruby and felt the small girl sobbing against her. She could hear Ruby's muffled voice.

"Why is everyone leaving?" she sobbed.

Yang had already read the note. She had helped Blake write it and she felt awful for not stopping her and not telling her teammates. Deep down, Yang felt that it was the right thing to do.

Yet, the blonde still sat upon the roof, bawling her eyes out. She didn't want Blake to leave. She loved her. But she didn't know that.


	6. Chapter 6

**Okay, you might want to settle in; just as Blake and Rozen do in this chapter because it's quite a long one. There are a few references to specific things as well, so if you find those, feel free to let me know. Also, bit of language in this one; nothing that hasn't emerged in this story before.**

 **But I also want to say that this chapter is longer because I basically did two parts. I did one part and wasn't really happy with it, so I changed it up, rewrote it, tweaked it, all that sort of stuff. But I realised it doesn't matter, because I would try to fix all that in the second part. And the second part starts when Rozen gets in a fight. So if you can tell the difference, feel free to let me know.**

 **Also, I was skeptical about the mood of the first part. I** **f anyone wants to comment on the ambience or the scene that the emotion is setting then feel free to review.**

 **Anyway, enjoy!**

* * *

Rozen woke up to the sight of a smiling Blake towering above him. He blinked groggily, stretching his arms.

"Morning." he said.

Blake just kept on smiling.

"What are you doing?" he asked, a little creeped out.

The faunus girl finally broke into laughter, leaving Rozen confused.

"What's so funny?" he asked her.

Blake stopped laughing and hugged him.

"Don't change." she told him.

"Um... alright. Why not?"

Blake nuzzled into his chest.

"No reason."

The engine roared as the aircraft slowly descended, landing at the Atlesian docks.

"You have arrived at your destination." the pilot called out.

The door slid open and Rozen got up.

"No tip?" the pilot joked. Rozen just got off the aircraft.

They found themselves at an air dock. It was a central area that had bridges extending off the side of a cliff, landing platforms at the end of each bridge. He looked up at the buildings. Atlas was beautiful, he'd admit that.

"Let's get going before anyone spots me." Rozen told Blake.

"What do you mean 'Before anyone spots you'?" Blake questioned.

Rozen sighed, as if it were obvious. Which, when you think about it, it really was.

"Blake, I'm a wanted criminal here. Do you not remember? Death penalty?" he reminded her.

She just shrugged and kept walking. Rozen followed.

He looked up at the buildings again. Hundreds of glass skyscrapers. Huge, menacing structures. The snow had been replaced with spotless streets and business districts, though a small amount of the white powder rained down from above.

As Rozen walked a few Knights drove passed in their armoured vehicle.

"Damn place is crawling with robots. I'm gonna stop that." he pledged.

"You really care about freeing this place, don't you?" Blake asked.

"No. I just think it's wrong to force anyone to live like this. Look around. You think these people are happy? They are, but only because they've never seen true happiness. They are forced to believe that they have the best life. I want to stop that. I want to make these people realise that Atlas cannot force them to live their lives like this."

"Is that why you care about Weiss so much?" Blake questioned. Rozen fell silent. Blake hugged him. "I'm sorry. I won't bring them up again."

"I don't any more. If I did I'd still be there." he said softly. "Anyway. Enough standing still. Let's cause some trouble. We should stay in the city for a few days, cause a few disturbances. Then, we'll head out to the mines and see what we can do about those faunus slaves." he planned.

Blake nodded, happy to go with whatever he was doing.

"But first, we should probably find somewhere to live. Hopefully, I have a few safehouses still active from the old days."

"Old days?" Blake repeated.

"You're full of questions, aren't you? I used to live here, in Atlas. Fighting the government. Except, not on such a big scale." he explained.

* * *

Rozen grunted as he lifted up a roller door, the entrance to the abandoned apartment.

"Home, sweet home." he sighed.

Blake walked down the hall at the entrance and ran a finger along a table. She looked at the dust on her finger.

"No one's been here for a long time, huh?" she asked.

"Well, it's condemned so there's that."

Blake chuckled. There was just something about Rozen that she found funny. Just being in his prescence made everything seem funnier.

"Where are we going to sleep? This place is a dump."

"Hey! This place isn't a dump! It's a family friendly, two bed, 3 bath apartment." he argued.

He leaned against a table, it collapsing as he put weight on it. Blake stifled her laughter.

"I didn't say the furniture was the best."

Blake took in the sight of the, admittedly good looking, apartment. Just past the doorway was a short hallway. At the end of the hall, the space split into two, a wall dividing the apartment in two. To the left was the living room, three steps leading down to the main area. In place of a wall was a full window, looking over the lower residential area of the city. There was a kitchen along the divider wall, with shelves covered with booze.

To the right, another, longer hallway. There was one door at the very start of the hallway, that was the bathroom. Along the hall were two more doors, both leading to the bedrooms. Each bedroom had a small ensuite.

"Ok, I'll admit it. It isn't too bad." she confessed. If she was completely honest, being raised in Menagerie, it was one of the most beautiful things she had seen. The view was amazing and even though the apartment was dusty and wrecked, it seemed quite prestigious.

Rozen smiled and hugged Blake. She melted into the contact.

"I knew you'd like it." Rozen said, smiling. "Too bad we don't have... anything. Sorry. I wasn't really expecting you to tag along. If I'd known, I would've cleaned up before you arrived." he joked.

He stepped into one of the bedrooms. Blake followed, interested in seeing what he was doing. He knocked on the walls of the room and examined them with care. He then stepped back and kicked one of the walls.

"Found it." he said as the plaster wall crumbled, revealing a small room, no bigger than a closet. Inside were several supply crates. They were large boxes that had food and water inside. He picked one up and plopped it down on the bed behind him.

"Hungry?" he asked as he held up a can of tuna. Blake was already drooling and snatched it out of his hands. He laughed.

"That was a complete coincidence. It was on sale. You might want to check if its out of date." he warned. Not that it mattered; Blake had devoured the canned fish already. She blushed slightly.

"Would you... happen to have any more?" she asked sheepishly, not wanting to sound greedy.

Rozen turned around and grabbed a small cardboard box off a shelf in the small room and tipped its contents onto the bed. The contents was, of course, a comical amount of tuna and cat food. Her ears twitched. Blake hugged him and quickly grabbed all of the food and rushed into the kitchen.

Blake dropped her treats onto the counter and looked at her supply.

"It's... beautiful." she whispered. She fantasised about how long this could feed her and what she could do with so much.

Rozen strolled into the kitchen with another cardboard box, filled with the essentials: Milk, cereal, bread, eggs, a bit of bacon and paper towels.

"I think we're set. Just need to clean the place up, wash the bedsheets and we should be living in a perfect home." he stated.

Blake leaned against him closing her eyes. "It's never gonna be this peaceful again, is it?"

"No. So let's enjoy it while it lasts." Rozen advised.

Blake turned to Rozen and shoved her face into the side of his chest, pulling him into a hug. He wrapped his arm around her. She groaned. He could hear her muffled voice speaking.

"Why can't you just live a normal life?" she asked. He ruffled her hair.

"Because someone has to do something about the assholes in the world."

"So let someone else do it. You and I can just stay here in this nice house and live out our peaceful lives here." she said, blushing hard after she realised what she had said. Luckily, her face was still buried in his chest.

"But our lives aren't peaceful. I don't know about you, but I wasn't born to be rich or have kids or settle down. I was born to fight. But the choice of who is completely up to me. So I intend to fight whoever I please." he told her.

Blaks was fed up with him being so stubborn and pulled away from him.

"Rozen, stop. Why do you have to be so stubborn? Why do you constantly have to make it so hard to love you?" she almost yelled.

Rozen stopped and turned to look at her.

"W-what?"

Blake blushed. She thought about running but she stopped herself, deciding to not run from her problems anymore.

"I said..." a pause. "I said that you make it hard to love you. But I still manage to. And I don't mean I love you in the same way Weiss or Ruby and Yang do. I love you like I used to. Like I still do." she confessed.

Rozen opened his mouth to say something but decided it was better to just stay silent. He did so by pressing his lips against Blake's, the two becoming a flurrying mess of passion and untold love.

Blake pushed Rozen up against the wall and broke the contact of their lips.

"I'm... not sure about this. I'm sorry. I just-"

"Blake. Tell me something. Do you love me?" he asked seriously.

"Y... yes. I do. I... love you." she said quietly.

"Then what's stopping you?" he asked.

Blake stopped and turned her head to the side, thinking. She turned back to face Rozen and stared up into his eyes. Her mouth was open slightly, allowing her to breath heavier. Rozen leaned down towards her and enveloped her lips in a gentle kiss.

She slowly parted her lips, allowing his tongue entrance as their tongues slipped around inside her mouth, battling for dominance. Rozen suddenly pulled away. Blake groaned as he starved her of the forbidden fruit she craved so much.

"What about..." he tried to think of the name. "Sun, is it? Aren't you two together?" he questioned.

Blake pressed a hand against his chest, sighing and looking at the ground.

"I already told you. We weren't a thing and now... we never will be. But I want to be with you. We had something and it was all thrown away because of someone else. Not either one of us. And here we are, together again. We aren't meant to be seperated. We're meant to be together, or else we wouldn't be here, just as we were before." she explained.

"Maybe we are. I love you. If we aren't meant to be apart then why should we let ourselves be?" he said, Blake slightly blushing at his sweet words.

Blake looked back up at him.

"I love you." she whispered, letting a hand carress his chest. Her fingers slowly stroked up along his neck, placing a hand on his cheek. Rozen let his head fall back against the wall, in a state of pure relaxation. Blake was the only person who could manipulate him with touch like that.

"Blake..." he muttered breathlessly, almost as if she were doing more than just brush her hand along his face. She pressed her other hand against his lips, a devious smile crossing her face. She slipped her finger into his mouth as Rozen became shocked from her actions.

He easily played along, lightly sucking on her finger jokingly. She moaned and pretended as if he were pleasuring her immensely. Then the joking smile turned even more devious as before. She slowly withdrew her finger from his mouth and kissed him passionately.

"You liked that?" Rozen joked again.

Blake nodded slightly and then put her finger in her own mouth and sucked on it. Rozen could hear the noises she was making - she was clearly quite into it.

"You're liking that finger, huh?" he stated.

Blake just nodded and stepped down to the living room, still sucking her finger. As she sat on the couch, Rozen positioned himself next to her. He nudged her with his elbow. He slumped against her, trying to get her attention.

"Blaaaaake." he groaned. "Blaaaaaaake!"

Blake finally broke, laughing at the adorable, attention seeking mess Rozen had turned into after mere minutes of neglect.

"You're sweet. I love you more than my finger. Well... I mean, he has done stuf-"

"Woah, woah, woah. No explanation required. I get that you and your books get a little alone time." he interrupted.

Blake punched his arm and chuckled softly. Rozen sighed and wrapped an arn around her, pulling her close. She slid down the couch and rested her head on his lap. He stroked her hair and ran a hand over her soft cheek. Finally, his hand reached her bow and he clicked his tongue.

"Now, what are we going to do about this?" he asked.

Blake sat up and looked at him, tears welling in her eyes. He pulled her into a comforting hug then drew her in for a kiss.

"It doesn't matter. I'll still love you. Plus, if we're aiming to help the faunus then it might help to see a friendly face." he told her. She slowly reached up to her bow but hesitated. She tilted her head downwards.

"Do it." she whispered to Rozen, pointing her bow in his direction. He reached out to the ribbon and then tugged on the ends slightly, letting it fall undone. Her ears twitched slightly, not used to being exposed to the cold Atlas air.

"I still think they look cute." Rozen stated, causing the faunus to blush.

"I still think they look silly." Blake argued.

"Who says silly can't look cute?"

"Who says it can?"

"I just said, I think it looks cute."

"I- but... shut up!" Blake stuttered, too tired to deal with Rozens child-like arguments. She pouted and turned her head away from him, sulking.

She gasped as she felt him carress one of her faunus ears.

"I wasn't trying to start an argument. I'm sorry." he apologised quickly.

Blake turned back to him, only to see that he looked sad, almost on the verge of tears. She gasped again, for a different reason. Her palm quickly found his cheek as she quietly hushed him.

"What's wrong? Sweetie, what's the matter?" she asked desperately.

Rozen put his head in his hands and his breathing became shaky. He tried to control his breathing as Blake rubbed his back, trying to comfort him.

"I-... I don't know what I'm supposed to do. Before I came back, I spent four years in complete silence. I never spoke a word to anyone, let alone come into contact with them. I was alone. And, frankly, that's just how I like it. But after four years, add the other six, and you have yourself a lonely life." he ranted. Blake nodded and rested her head on his shoulder.

"I never wanted this!" he shouted as he slammed his fist into the coffee table in front of them. "It wasn't supposed to be like this. I was supposed to come here alone, fight Atlas alone and die. Alone. I'm going to die and I don't care. I'd fight this war with complete silence. But now I have you. And I don't want to leave this world if it means staying with you. I just... I wish it could have been different; I wish there was just another way!" he shouted as he stood up.

"Rozen..."

"No!"

"Calm down, please." Blake pleaded.

Rozen made his way to the window then turned around, about to yell at Blake and himself but stopped when he saw Blake was also on the verge of tears. The girl stood up and slowly walked over to him, smashing her fist against his chest.

"Why are you doing this? You're tearing yourself apart. Can't you see that?" she sobbed.

Rozen embraced her in a heavy hug.

"I'm sorry. I love you and I don't want to leave you. However; it's inevitable." he told his lover.

Blake just stood in silence, accepting his hug. She felt the tears that kept coming. She didn't try to fight it. He told her it was inevitable. When it came to things like this he always kept his word, she could tell.

"I love you. I don't want you to leave. Why are we still here? We could just run from Atlas and hide. We could just run away and live a quiet life! Maybe find a little cabin in the woods, maybe live in a small village. Have kids, get proper jobs! And live." she insisted.

Rozen let go of her and she felt herself wanting that contact again.

"I need to fight them. It's the right thing to do. You think I haven't thought about running? I think about it every day - what it would be like to live in a quiet town, where everyone is happy. Where it's peaceful. And then I wake up." he confessed.

Blake wiped her tears away and nodded. She sat back down on the couch, still crying quietly.

"I'm gonna go cause some trouble." he said as he headed towards the entrance. Blake just let him leave. She needed to think and Rozen needed to kill. Rozen felt as if his words were meaningless. Hollow.

* * *

The Atlesian Guard HQ got a startling alert just as the sun reached its peak in the sky. The guard sent a few Knights and a human commanding officer to the location. The androids piled out of the truck that had sped to the scene.

Rozen stood on one of the citys many highways. He stood completely still, his hood covering his head. His hand was behind him, tucked under his cape.

The guards ran towards him, stopping about 50 feet away from him. They readied their guns and aimed, ready to fire.

Then, a particularly large man with a particularly unique weapon approached him. The large soldier was dressed in the usual white and light gray Atlas military uniform, however, it seemed much more heavily armored. Rozen could swear he saw a flame-resistant visor on his helmet. Rozen then noticed the huge tank on the soldiers back. The large gun behind it. He wasn't supposed to be here. No one sent him.

"Hi... there. You are a biiiig boy, aren't you?" Rozen muttered nervously.

The soldier said nothing, instead pulling the flamethrower off his back and flicking a small switch next to the trigger, sparking the gas. A huge snake of fire swirled it's way across the crowded road, towards Rozen. Rozen rolled out of the way, shooting the flame specialist a dirty look.

"Oh, what the fuck is with this guy?" he asked himself as he dashed towards the heavy soldier, changing his course and rolling to the side again, as another burst of flame tunneled in his direction.

A small smile tugged at the edges of Rozen's lips, reveling in the fact that Atlas was practically letting him manipulate them. A major part of his argument was the fact that Atlas was scary and that they strike fear, not only into the hearts of their enemies, but to everyone else. And Atlas soldiers completely torching a freeway littered in civilians was the perfect example.

Rozen started to relax and try to think out a strategy before he heard the commanding officer yell "Fire at will!".

Rozen dashed to the robots and made quick work of them, countering all their close range attacks and dodging away from the occasional spray of bullets. He confidently stepped up to the commanding officer and stared into his eyes. He could see the fear inside the human soldier and hesitated. He wasn't trying to strike fear into anyone except the Atlesian military, which did include most people in Atlas, but not all.

"I'm not going to kill you." Rozen whispered.

The officers eyes looked up at him, filled with relief.

"But I am going to kick your ass. And I'm going to kill your pyromaniac friend."

"I'd like to see you try."

Rozen hit the soldier with a left hook, smashing his jaw with his elbow on the way back. He knee'd the man in the groin, watching him curl up and cower in pain. Rozen turned around and took a single step before launching his leg backwards, hearing the crack as it impacted the soldiers skull.

"Now, let's deal with you."

He confidently moved towards the other soldier, soon breaking into a sprint, his opponent retaliating with yet another burst of pure heat. Rozen dropped to the ground and landed on his back, using his momentum to slide across the ground. A large flame branched out and licked at Rozen's arm, burning a fair portion of his sleeve and arm.

He pushed himself up off of his back and wrapped his left hand around the barrel of the flamethrower. He grimaced from the pain of his rash actions, noting that although heat was welcome in this environment, it would be preferable if it were not throwing his hand on metal that was nearing its melting point.

He threw a raw punch at the soldiers visor, cracking it. A few shards of the protective glass flew into the helmet. The man clawed at his helmet until it came off, looking up at Rozen with hate in his eyes. He put his weapon behind his back, putting it on its clip.

"Come here!" he yelled, lurching forward and wrapping a large hand around Rozen's throat, establishing a firm grip. Rozen clawed at his hand before realizing that he just needed to keep his cool. Look for weaknesses, anything to exploit that will free him from the suffocating grip.

He reached behind his own back and felt for the cold metal blade he had sheathed. He danced his fingers across it, searching for the hilt. He found the grip and unsheathed his blade and sloppily struck forward, causing his attacker to jump back, releasing Rozen's throat.

Rozen gasped for air and then dashed towards the soldier. Without stopping, he jumped and put his hand on his opponents shoulders, lifting himself over the soldiers head, landing behind him. Rozen then lunged at his back, his sword held straight out in front of him.

There was a silence on the battlefield. All except for the faint hissing of a puncture in the gas tank. Rozen sheathed his sword and smiled at the panicked soldier before dashing backwards and shielding his eyes from the bright light of the explosion.

"That guy was a dick..." he mumbled under his breath as he walked over to the edge of the expressway. They were a fair way up, a dam beneath them. The dam led out to the icy waters of the ocean. He figured it wasn't worth looking cool and instead just decided to walk home.

* * *

"Well, Blake, I hope you missed me, because I have had _quite_ a day." he called out, walking down the hall of their new home.

"I always miss you." Blake called back.

Rozen stepped into the living room and jumped over the back of the couch, landing on the soft cushions. Blake quietly stepped down into the area from the kitchen.

"Hey, no shoes on the carpet!" she scolded him. "It took me ages to clean the dust and stains outta that damn rug!"

Rozen quickly removed his shoes and threw them back towards the hardwood floors.

"There. They're gone." he said, holding his hands up in surrender. He only just noticed how clean the place was. Of course, the damage to the house was still there, but it was otherwise spotless. The couch had no dust, dirt or broken bits of plaster left on it. The floors had been cleared of dirt and rubble. He couldn't wait to see the bedrooms. Or the bathroom. Oh, he couldn't wait to see the bathroom.

"B-Blake. Wow. I mea- just wow!" he stuttered.

"I had some free time so I decided to clean the place up." she said modestly, sitting down on the couch with a book, bringing her feet up next to her.

She had changed out of her usual attire. She wore casual clothes: black tights, a pure white jacket with the sleeves rolled up and the front unzipped, a black shirt with a simple light gray design and no shoes. It was very similar to the outfit she wore when infiltrating the white fang meeting, back in Vale. She had been told it looked good on her, so she styled it in a similar fashion on purpose.

"This is amazing. I was only gone for, what, 3 hours?" he told her, amazed by how she managed to clean the whole place in such a short time.

"I also stocked the fridge, the pantry and the cupboards." she told him. Rozen was already in the kitchen and rifling through the cupboard.

"...I also organised them..." she muttered.

Rozen returned to the living room and plopped down on the couch to the right of Blake with a bag of chips.

Blake shot him an accusing glare. "If you get a single crumb on this couch, I will kill you." she warned.

Rozen put his already empty plastic bag down on the coffee table and reached around Blake's waist, pulling her close. He rested his head on top of hers, one arm around her waist, while his right hand massaged hers.

"I'm scared. This is all so familiar but still so new." Blake confessed.

Rozen nodded absently. He snapped out of his trance to talk.

"Yeah. I'm just stressed. I mean, how long could we live here? Not that it would really be living. Just... hiding... And putting you in danger..."

"Rose..." she used the nickname she gave him to try and lull him into that sense of calmness and bliss she usually forced him into.

"But you should get some sleep."

"What about you?" she asked. She didn't want him to be any more tired than he is already.

"I doubt I'd get a single second anyway."

"But... what if I can't? I'm scared and stressed. I'll most likely suffer from insomnia as well."

"Then I'll sit here and hold you all through the night, until you're sleeping." Rozen comforted.

Blake just groaned and lay down on the couch, resting her head on the arm of the sofa and her shoulders on his lap. His left hand rested on her bare stomach, her heavy breathing expanding her chest, causing her shirt to lift up slightly. His right hand found a place running through her dark hair. He slowly and gently combed through a few knots and straightened out her tangles.

Within minutes, she was asleep. Purring like a kitten.

Her words echoed through his mind, further aggravating his insomnia.

 _I'm scared._

 _...so familiar... still so new._

 _But what if I can't?_

 _I'm scared and stressed._

"It's gonna be a long night..." he muttered, sure he wouldn't sleep a wink.

He just closed his eyes and pretended.

Pretended that he didn't fear the future.


End file.
